Strontium and barium in sea water and marine organisms

Abstract

Since the advent of nuclear fission, considerable interest has been aroused in the biological fate of strontium, as two isotopes of this element are among the longer-lived fission products of uranium. Strontium 90, in particular, constitutes the major hazard in old fission products because it is readily taken up by all kinds of plants and may then be concentrated in the bones of animals feeding on the plants. Strontium 90 contamination may be derived from fall-out from atomic explosions or from uncontrolled disposal of fission products. The oceans should receive more than twice as much Strontium 90 from fall-out as the continents because 70% of the surface area of the globe is covered by sea. The oceans are also used, though to a very limited extent at present, for the disposal of fission products from reactor wastes. Hence it is obviously important to study the behaviour of strontium in marine organisms in order to evaluate the health hazard caused by controlled or uncontrolled radioactive contamination of sea water. Barium has only relatively short-lived fission-product isotopes, but can readily be studied at the same time as strontium because of its similar chemistry.